http://oduinn.com/blog/2009/02/02/watching-history-in-the-making/ Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:12:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://oduinn.com/blog/2009/02/02/watching-history-in-the-making/#comment-18692 Where’s Walden? » Re: Watching history in the making… Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:28:12 +0000 http://oduinn.com/2009/02/02/watching-history-in-the-making/#comment-18692 [...] I agree with John that it’s good to see enacted legislation made more accessible to the public. (The referenced bill was available as always through the Library of Congress’s Thomas system, of course, but if you’ve ever attempted to use the system it’s, well, horrible. Permanent links are difficult if not impossible to find [I'm pretty sure the given URL isn't permanent, given the "temp" within it; I found it by searching for "ledbetter"], bill text is “splashed” into the page with no containing box to draw the eye or limit line length, search navigation text is preformatted [why?!?!], the “XML display” of a bill isn’t even sent as XML, and overall the site’s just ugly.) Engagement in the political process first and foremost requires knowledge: of the issues, of the bills under consideration, of the enacted laws, and of the people in the government. [...] [...] I agree with John that it’s good to see enacted legislation made more accessible to the public. (The referenced bill was available as always through the Library of Congress’s Thomas system, of course, but if you’ve ever attempted to use the system it’s, well, horrible. Permanent links are difficult if not impossible to find [I'm pretty sure the given URL isn't permanent, given the "temp" within it; I found it by searching for "ledbetter"], bill text is “splashed” into the page with no containing box to draw the eye or limit line length, search navigation text is preformatted [why?!?!], the “XML display” of a bill isn’t even sent as XML, and overall the site’s just ugly.) Engagement in the political process first and foremost requires knowledge: of the issues, of the bills under consideration, of the enacted laws, and of the people in the government. [...]

]]> http://oduinn.com/blog/2009/02/02/watching-history-in-the-making/#comment-18615 Tiffney Mon, 02 Feb 2009 21:08:58 +0000 http://oduinn.com/2009/02/02/watching-history-in-the-making/#comment-18615 I've been reluctant to jump on the Obama-is-Messiah bandwagon, but I will say the most encouraging and definite change that has been brought to the White House for sure thus far is the new trend toward transparency and availablility of information. This is one area where Obama was without doubt a better choice than McCain. A web-savvy, communicative administration will do a lot more for keeping the public informed. We never would have gotten that from McCain, who said he doesn't even have an e-mail account. It doesn't make him a bad person -- it's just a telling generational issue. We have yet to see on other issues like the stimulus package and plans for health and education, but at least we can chalk up one positive legacy Obama will leave us. I’ve been reluctant to jump on the Obama-is-Messiah bandwagon, but I will say the most encouraging and definite change that has been brought to the White House for sure thus far is the new trend toward transparency and availablility of information. This is one area where Obama was without doubt a better choice than McCain. A web-savvy, communicative administration will do a lot more for keeping the public informed. We never would have gotten that from McCain, who said he doesn’t even have an e-mail account. It doesn’t make him a bad person — it’s just a telling generational issue. We have yet to see on other issues like the stimulus package and plans for health and education, but at least we can chalk up one positive legacy Obama will leave us.

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